RaWarrior
Well-Known Member
For any of you here that also ride ATV's or snowmobiles...
I'm the type that always needs to be riding, so when the bike season comes to a close here in the northeast, I have to find something else to cruise around on. I've got an '05 Yamaha Rx-Warrior snowmobile(powered by a modified R1 motor), and a '93 Suzuki LT4WD quad. The sled puts out a claimed 145hp, the 250cc single quad, only about 20hp.
Unfortunately, finding a place to ride my 4wheeler is getting to be harder than michael jackson at a playground. Here in Schroon Lake, there's endless trails that can take you virtually anywhere in the Adirondacks, most of which are maintained as snowmobile trails. I take full advantage of them in the winter, and am thankful they're there and joined the local snowmobile club to support them. However, once spring rolls around and the trails are "closed for the season", all of a sudden they become forbidden territory. Nothing but snowmobiles are allowed to use them. That's like saying every public street is CLOSED to automobiles during the summer and only bikes are allowed(which would be sweet, but totally outrageous). It makes zero sense to me why everyone gets their panties in a wad at the prospect of ATV's using the trail. The only explanation I've gotten is that they(club and landowners) don't want quads "ruining" the trails, I guess by peeling out and such. However, the very person (veep of the snowmobile club) who said this regularly burns out with his sled and leave huge ruts in the trail during the winter. Virtually everyone does, yet virtually everyone also bitches endlessly the first time they see so much as a minibike riding on a snowmobile trail, complaining they're "ripping up" the trail. From firsthand experience, I can assure you this is bullshit, and snowmobilers who refuse to "let go" and go out riding where there's 1" of sloppy wet snow on the trail cause far more damage to the ground underneath than wheeled vehicles ever do.
There's trails around the Troy area that are also technically "snowmobile trails", but are frequented by quads/dirt bikes in the summer. The club down there was making a big stink about it, saying there would have to be twice as much snowfall to "even out" the extremely shallow wheelpaths in the trail, how this would make the trails dangerous for snowmobiles, ect. They put up signs, barricades, people just drove right through them. And a lot of the quads that have the power for it do burn out through the corners, scramble up hills, ect. Winter came, snow fell, and all the trails were 100% fine. Snowfall was even considerably lighter than other years and there was absolutely zero evidence a quad had ever thrown rooster tails on it. Then spring came, and all the crap started up again that the trails were CLOSED, no ATV's, yadda yadda yadda. Probably 95% of the time, when the snowmobile club secures landowner permission to the trail, it's for all year. Only rarely (at least around here) is the permission a seasonal only, typically only if the trail is cutting across a farmer's field or something. It's not the landowners who complain, it's just other snowmobilers who feel the need to police their own arbitrary rules. Far more landowners complain and/or revoke trail rights to to "canned" snowmobiles, or snowmobiles going off-trail. I have yet to ever hear of a landowner complaining or revoking rights due to atv's using them. So IMO if anyone "damages" the trail system more, it's snowmobilers.
Where I ride in Troy is more rural and mostly away from people who might complain(I purposely kept my quad whisper quiet), so I just ignore the signs and drive around the barricades, as do dozens of other machines every day. But up here in the little town of Schroon Lake, a lot of the trails are near houses, and seems like everyone here feels the need to bitch about me putt-putting my quad down a trail. My quad will only spin the wheels in 2wd, in reverse. I couldn't "rip up" the trail if I wanted to. Like I said it's whisper quiet, far moreso than all the 2 stroke sleds with the stupid "coffee can" exhausts that could wake the dead at a rock concert. There is absolutely zero evidence I have been down that trail, and yet the second someone hears me coming (it's quiet, not silent), they hop over their back fence to wave and yell at me. It's not just one or two bitchy neighbors, it seems like everyone up here, and it's gotten to the point I just don't use my quad up here anymore, despite there being a lot of great riding.
Being a ATVer and a snowmobiler, I just don't get the whole feud over trail rights. ATV- approved trails are extremely few and far between in NY, and these are of course snowmobile trails in the winter. I can see why people don't want ATV's on the trails when they're groomed for sleds...then quads do leave big ruts in the snow and make problems. No argument there. I just don't get why this mindset continues long after the snow is gone and the sleds are laid up for the summer.
Seems like all these people are in the mood that if they can't be using it with their sled, then nobody else can enjoy it either.
I'm the type that always needs to be riding, so when the bike season comes to a close here in the northeast, I have to find something else to cruise around on. I've got an '05 Yamaha Rx-Warrior snowmobile(powered by a modified R1 motor), and a '93 Suzuki LT4WD quad. The sled puts out a claimed 145hp, the 250cc single quad, only about 20hp.
Unfortunately, finding a place to ride my 4wheeler is getting to be harder than michael jackson at a playground. Here in Schroon Lake, there's endless trails that can take you virtually anywhere in the Adirondacks, most of which are maintained as snowmobile trails. I take full advantage of them in the winter, and am thankful they're there and joined the local snowmobile club to support them. However, once spring rolls around and the trails are "closed for the season", all of a sudden they become forbidden territory. Nothing but snowmobiles are allowed to use them. That's like saying every public street is CLOSED to automobiles during the summer and only bikes are allowed(which would be sweet, but totally outrageous). It makes zero sense to me why everyone gets their panties in a wad at the prospect of ATV's using the trail. The only explanation I've gotten is that they(club and landowners) don't want quads "ruining" the trails, I guess by peeling out and such. However, the very person (veep of the snowmobile club) who said this regularly burns out with his sled and leave huge ruts in the trail during the winter. Virtually everyone does, yet virtually everyone also bitches endlessly the first time they see so much as a minibike riding on a snowmobile trail, complaining they're "ripping up" the trail. From firsthand experience, I can assure you this is bullshit, and snowmobilers who refuse to "let go" and go out riding where there's 1" of sloppy wet snow on the trail cause far more damage to the ground underneath than wheeled vehicles ever do.
There's trails around the Troy area that are also technically "snowmobile trails", but are frequented by quads/dirt bikes in the summer. The club down there was making a big stink about it, saying there would have to be twice as much snowfall to "even out" the extremely shallow wheelpaths in the trail, how this would make the trails dangerous for snowmobiles, ect. They put up signs, barricades, people just drove right through them. And a lot of the quads that have the power for it do burn out through the corners, scramble up hills, ect. Winter came, snow fell, and all the trails were 100% fine. Snowfall was even considerably lighter than other years and there was absolutely zero evidence a quad had ever thrown rooster tails on it. Then spring came, and all the crap started up again that the trails were CLOSED, no ATV's, yadda yadda yadda. Probably 95% of the time, when the snowmobile club secures landowner permission to the trail, it's for all year. Only rarely (at least around here) is the permission a seasonal only, typically only if the trail is cutting across a farmer's field or something. It's not the landowners who complain, it's just other snowmobilers who feel the need to police their own arbitrary rules. Far more landowners complain and/or revoke trail rights to to "canned" snowmobiles, or snowmobiles going off-trail. I have yet to ever hear of a landowner complaining or revoking rights due to atv's using them. So IMO if anyone "damages" the trail system more, it's snowmobilers.
Where I ride in Troy is more rural and mostly away from people who might complain(I purposely kept my quad whisper quiet), so I just ignore the signs and drive around the barricades, as do dozens of other machines every day. But up here in the little town of Schroon Lake, a lot of the trails are near houses, and seems like everyone here feels the need to bitch about me putt-putting my quad down a trail. My quad will only spin the wheels in 2wd, in reverse. I couldn't "rip up" the trail if I wanted to. Like I said it's whisper quiet, far moreso than all the 2 stroke sleds with the stupid "coffee can" exhausts that could wake the dead at a rock concert. There is absolutely zero evidence I have been down that trail, and yet the second someone hears me coming (it's quiet, not silent), they hop over their back fence to wave and yell at me. It's not just one or two bitchy neighbors, it seems like everyone up here, and it's gotten to the point I just don't use my quad up here anymore, despite there being a lot of great riding.
Being a ATVer and a snowmobiler, I just don't get the whole feud over trail rights. ATV- approved trails are extremely few and far between in NY, and these are of course snowmobile trails in the winter. I can see why people don't want ATV's on the trails when they're groomed for sleds...then quads do leave big ruts in the snow and make problems. No argument there. I just don't get why this mindset continues long after the snow is gone and the sleds are laid up for the summer.
Seems like all these people are in the mood that if they can't be using it with their sled, then nobody else can enjoy it either.
